The Silesian University of Technology is a partner in the European climate project PEARL LIFE PL. The university will receive nearly 900 Euro in funding
The Silesian University of Technology will take part in the prestigious, integrated strategic project PEARL LIFE PL as part of the EU LIFE Program. Our University will receive a grant of EUR 898 800.00 for developing innovative solutions supporting the energy and climate transformation.
The project “New Paradigm of Emission-free Advancements and Resourceful Lifestyles in Poland,” the acronym of which is PEARL LIFE PL, is an integrated strategic project of the LIFE program, focused on the implementation of energy and climate strategies and acceleration in achieving climate neutrality in the cross-border area of Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. The project has been developed from an earlier concept and expanded to an international scale. Its overarching goal is to integrate and harmonize multi-level energy security management systems and a just transformation in the Lower Silesia, Saxony, and Liberec Region, while affecting other regions of Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. It is assumed that the energy and climate strategy in this area will be fully implemented, that the regional and local management system will be strengthened and that complementary financing will be mobilized for investments supporting the transformation.
The project focuses on reducing the production of energy from coal, developing stable sources of energy production from RES (Renewable Energy Sources), strengthening civic energy and energy storage, improving the energy efficiency of buildings, and implementing low-emission consumption and modernization models in the municipal sector. The project indicators assume a reduction of CO2 emissions by 30% by 2034 and by 86% by 2039 compared to 2021, an increase in energy production from renewable sources to 23.2 TWh/year, a reduction in primary energy consumption by 15%, the implementation of low-carbon solutions and reaching of about 1 million customers with information and education activities. An important assumption of the project is also the mobilization of EUR 11.5 billion of complementary funds. The intervention logic is based on a sequence: strategic objectives, pilot actions, monitoring and evaluation, demonstration implementations, and replication of best practices.
The PEARL LIFE PL concept assumes the construction of an integrated decarbonization management system, combining strategic, organizational, investment, educational and analytical dimensions. The project includes - among others - the creation of a permanent platform for cross-border cooperation, development of an integrated package of activities for the Turow subregion, implementation of IT tools for monitoring energy balances and reducing emissions CO2, development of the concept of a cross-border “microuniversity” responding to the needs of the staff of the future, launching of the Multilingual Climate Neutrality Portal of Lower Silesia, conducting advisory and educational activities in municipalities, preparing pilot energy supply plans and implementing energy assessment campaigns of buildings. The project thus creates a solid institutional and competence base for the energy transformation, including public administration, science sector, enterprises, and local communities.
The project is planned to be implemented in a period of 96 months and has been divided into 8 working packages, including management, construction of the decarbonization management system, competence and information activities, local planning, monitoring of effects and replication and sustainability of results. The consortium consists of 26 institutions from three countries. Silesian University of Technology plays the role of a partner in the project. The leader of the project is the Lower Silesian Voivodeship - The Institute for Territorial Development.
The total budget of the project is EUR 17 188 480, of which the requested EU contribution is EUR 10 313 088. A total budget of EUR 1 498 000 is foreseen for the Silesian University of Technology, of which EUR 898 800.00 is EU funding.
Text: Dr Eng. Krzysztof Bodzek
